Nursing brassiere



. April 6, 1943. A. A. GLA SER .2,315;614

NURS ING BRASS IERE Filed June 14, 1941 ALBETA. 61445551? INVENTOR BY v A rromvsy.

Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to brassieres, particularly to what are termed nursing brassieres.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a nursing brassire having partially detachable breast pccket portions which can be easily opened to expose the breasts of a wearer in combination with a breast supporting means adapted to support the individual breasts regardless of the position of the breast pocket portions of the brassire.

It is a particular object to provide a nursing brassiere having a breast supporting structure or foundation which follows the contour of the breasts and gives the breasts the proper separation and uplift which is particularly important in cases where the wearer may have heavy or pendulous breasts. In this connection it is an object to provide a nursing brassiere having partially detachable breast pocket forming portions together with breast supporting means including individual breast supporting bands inside of the brassiere adapted to partially encircle and support a part of the under portion and inner sides of the breasts and yet permit a substantial portion of each breast to extend through the breast supporting means.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing and the following description thereof.

Referring to the drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only- Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a brassiere embodying the invention shown as it would appear on the wearer;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the brassiere of Fig. 1 shown with the breast pocket portions unfastened and turned back;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the inside of the front part of the brassire;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross section on line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

More particularly describing the invention reference numeral I I generally indicates left and right sections of the garment. Each of these sections includes a body band portion I 2 adapted to extend around the sides and back of the wearer and to be fastened behind the wearer by means of the tabs I3 and I4, provided with hooks and eyes as shown. Either one or both of these tabs may be made of an elastic material.

Extending from each of the body band portions I2 are what will be termed front or breast pocket portions I5 which are shaped to form pockets for the breasts of the wearer. The two breast pocket portions are adapted to be detachably secured at their inner or adjacent edges by means of the hooks and eyes I6 and I7 respectively. In Fig. 1 the pocket portions are shown hooked together, the detachable securing means extending substantially vertically of the garment and, when secured, adapted to be disposed intermediate the breasts of the wearer.

It is a particular feature of this invention to provide a breast supporting means independent of the breast pocket portions of the garment and this means is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 where it is generally inchcated by reference numeral l8. This means is adapted to extend across in front of the wearer regardless of whether the breast pocket portions are hooked together or not and thereby provide a means of retaining the brassiere on the wearer when the breast pocket portions are unhooked, and, in addition as will become apparent, to act as a supporting means for the breasts. This means comprises a pair of breast bands, each being indicated by the numeral 20, which are preferably secured to the inside of the respective sections I I at their outer ends in the region of the juncture ofthe respective body band portions I2 with their pocket portions I5 at 2I. At their outer ends the bands preferably extend from top to bottom of the garment and from thereextend toward the center of the brassiere and then are curved upwardly and toward the outer part of the garment, the bands decreasing in width to their point of attachment at their upper ends in a region at the top of the breast pocket portions outwardly of the middle at 22. In general the bands may be said to form substantially inclined U forms. Each band is provided with an adjustment loop 23 which facilitates accommodation of the garment to the particular wearer. Preferably the bands 29 are connected at their adjacent inner edges by one or more bands of elastic material 24. It is also contemplated that the bands 20 may be stitched to the breast pocket portions of the garment at 25, however, although this has been illustrated it is not essential but merely optional. The brassire is provided with a pair of shoulder straps 26. One end of each strap is secured to its respective body band portion near the free end thereof at 21 while the front end of each strap is secured to the breast supporting bands 20 at 28. Each strap is preferably provided with an adjustment loop 29.

As part of the means for detachably securing the breast pocket portions it to the remainder of the garment each of these portions I is provided with a loop 3i! adapted to be detachably mounted on a hook 3| forming part of the eyelet means 32 in the straps 26.

With the construction above outlined, the garment is fastened about the wearer as indicated in Fig. 1, the breast supporting bands 20 extending under and between each of the breasts lending support thereto and yet permitting a substantial portion of each breast to protrude beyond the bands 28. In this connection it should be pointed out that each band 20 inclines to the contour of the breast it supports and does not lie fiat against the body of the wearer [beneath or below the breasts. When the breast pocket portions [5 are secured together as in Fig. 1, they cover the breasts and act as pockets for receiving the breasts. When unfastened from each other and from the shoulder straps the breast pocket portions may be turned back to expose the nipples and immediately adjacent outer end portions of the breasts which will extend through the openings 3 3. When the pocket portions are unfastened the breast supporting means is together with the remainder of the brassiere exclusive of the breast pocket portions remain about the wearer.

It is contemplated that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention and it is intended to cover such modifications and changes as come within the scope of the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a brassire a left and a right section, said sections each comprising a body band portion and a front breast pocket portion, means for detachably securing the free ends of the body band portions together, means for detachably securing the free ends of the pocket portions together, a breast supporting member secured to each section near the juncture of the body band and breast pocket portions and adapted to engage the under and inner sides of the breasts of a wearer of the brassiere, the upper ends of said supporting members being secured to the upper part of the respective breast pocket portions, means connecting the breast supporting members substantially midway between the top and bottom of the garment, and a shoulder strap connecting each body band portion to the top of its respective breast supporting member.

2. In a brassiere, a left and a right section, said sections each comprising a body band portion and a front breast pocket portion, means for detachably securing the free ends of the body band portions together, means for detachably securing the free ends of the pocket portions together, a breast supporting member secured to each section near the juncture of the body band and breast pocket portions and adapted to engage the under and inner sides of the breasts of a wearer of the brassiere, the upper ends of said supporting members being secured. to the upper part of the respective breast pocket portions, means connecting the breast supporting members substantially midway between the top and bottom of the garment, a

shoulder strap connecting each body band portion to the upper portion of its respective breast supporting member, and cooperative means on the upper medial part of each breast pocket portion and on each shoulder-strap for detachably securing the pocket portions to the respective shoulder straps.

3. In a brassiere, a left and right section, said sections each comprising a body band portion and a front breast pocket portion, means for detachably securing the free ends of the body band portions together, means for detachably secure ing the free ends of the breast pocket portions together, a breast supporting means mounted on the inside of the left and right sections of the brassiere comprising two flexible breast engaging bands each having one end mounted adjacent the juncture of the body band portion and breast pocket portion of the respective sections and extending toward the middle of the garment and curved upwardly and terminating in a relatively narrow band portion attached to the breast pocket portion near the top thereof and outwardly of the middle of the pocket, elastic means connecting the adjacent portions of said breast engaging bands, and a shoulder strap connesting the uper end portion of each breast engaging band with the body band portion of its respective section of the brassire.

4. A brassiere as defined in claim 3 in which the breast supporting bands are adjustable in the region of their upper ends to vary the length of each band.

ALBERT A. GLASSER. 

